Perfect
by The F R A Y
Summary: All Ravenpaw wants is to be noticed. Tigerleg wishes to become a warrior worth knowing. Mapleheart feels the need to be beautiful. And Tanglestar struggles to become a good leader. Each one of these cats tries to make themselves 'perfect,' all while struggling to understand who they really are. Please read and review?
1. Prologue

Before reading this story, you need to know some things.

First of all, this is a WARRIORS fanfiction. The characters are completely 100% cat, but most of the things the cats go through, are things humans will go through. I won't give anything away, so don't get your hopes up. Second of all, this story could end any day, because I'm known to not get on for weeks or months at a time. Oh, and please give me good hard critiscm, while keeping certain things in mind. I know that these things wouldn't actually happen in Warriors, but Warriors wouldn't actually happen in real life, eh? Finally, I know the story is rated M, but no worries. There will be absoloutely no graphic lemons. :)

Now, here is a little poem by **Ellen Hopkins.**I own nothing and it goes completely to her. I am only using it because it expresses the cats' journeys to becoming 'perfect' when they don't even know what 'perfect' really is.

**"How**  
do you define a word without  
concrete meaning? To each  
his own, the saying goes, so

**why**  
push to attain an ideal  
state of being that no two  
random people will agree is

**where**  
you want to be? Faultless.  
Finished. Incomparable.  
People can never be these,  
and anyway,

**when**  
did creating a flawless facade  
become a more vital goal  
than learning to love the person

**who**  
lives inside your skin?  
The outside belongs to others.  
Only you should decide for you-

**what**  
is perfect"  
― Ellen Hopkins, _Perfect_

**Prologue**

The leader looked down upon his daughter, smiling as she looked back up at him. "Goldenpaw," he said softly. "You will have plenty of problems in this life of becoming the best warrior you can be. You're not the only one."

Goldenpaw's smile faltered. She dipped her head down, looking at her paws. "But...I AM the only one going through this! Clan cats' problems are supposed to be things like trespassing cats, battles..." she trailed off.

"No!" he said angrily. "It may seem abnormal, but it has happened before. You know the warriors...?" he liste off a few cat's names. "They all went through serious problems, as did I."

The young apprentice huffed. She sunk her claws into the moist ground. Rain dropped from the sky and fell on her ears, dripping down the back of her neck and wetting her fur. Wind suddenly whipped through the sky, and the leader's long fur started to blow everywhere.

He got up quickly as thunder boomed through the sky, and the ground seemed to shake. "Let's go to my den, daughter," he said warmly. "I'll tell you the story there."


	2. Chapter 1 - Ravenpaw POV

**A/N: I'm back and better than ever! I think...**

Light paws tread silently on the bracken and moss covering the forest floor. Carefully assesing each and every one of her own movements, Ravenpaw crept along under the shade of towering trees. The mouse scurrying a few tail-lengths away focused in Ravenpaw's soft green eyes, and she picked up her pace a little bit, claws coming out, ready to sink into the mouse. With a mighty leap, she flew through the air and stretched her claws outwards. Thank StarClan her claws sunk into the flufy brown fur. Letting out a small _huff _of pride, Ravenpaw gently picked up the mouse in her jaws, and trotted along to where she had buried her other prey.

_Maybe Whiteblaze will tell my dad how wonderful I did today! _Ravenpaw felt her heart lift at the thought. Ever since her brother, Ashpaw, decided to be a medicine cat,Heronwing and Firethroat had paid no more attention to her. All sunhigh long, Heronwing, Ravenpaw's fussy mother would fawn over the medicine cat apprentice, treating him as if he were better than StarClan. And she was beginning to get enervated of it. Sure, Poppynose, the medicine cat, had a dream about him and that he was destined to become one of the best medicine cats the Clans have ever seen. But wasn't becoming a strong warrior better?

"That was a good catch, Ravenpaw," Whitefoot meowed in his rumbling voice, stepping closer to his apprentice. His normally white paws were covered in cakey dirt, with burrs and brambles stuck over the soft fur. Ravenpaw often thought that he should've been re-named to Dirtyfoot.

Ravenpaw purred a thank you and set the mouse down, freeing her jaws. "Shall we take all of my prey back to the camp?" she questioned, making sure hint that she had caught a lot.

"Let's do that, " Whitefoot agreed, beginning to dirty his paws even more as he scraped the dirt off of her buried prey.

Counting quickly, Ravenpaw confirmed she had caught a whopping four peices of prey, not including her mouse. Proudly, she looked up at Whitefoot, a gleam in her eyes. The two cats started along the way back to the ThunderClan camp. Ravenpaw had a vole tucked under her chin, and in her jaws she had stuffed her mouse and squirell. Whitefoot carried the larger of the two squirells and had another mouse. She felt very weighted down with the heavy load, but moons of training made her carry on.

As mentor and apprentice padded along the trail, Ravenpaw allowed her thoughts to wander. What were Heronwing and Firethroat doing right now? Well, Firethroat was the deputy, so Ravenpaw imagined he was sending out the sundown patrol, his obstreperous

commands and snarky comments echoing thoughout the camp. And Heronwing was probably fussing over Ashpaw. Ravenpaw almost dropped her prey when she wanted to let out a meow of laughter. Poppynose would probably be trying to get Heronwing out of the medicine den, while Ashpaw concentrated on the new poultices he was trying to create.

The ThunderClan camp loomed into view, and Bravepaw raced over, his red-brown coat blending against a few of the trees as he waved his white tipped tail in greeting. Ravenpaw admired the way his well developed muscles gleamed under his clean coat. Whitefoot paced foward even more quickly to greet the Bravepaw, who was only apprenticed two moons before Ravenpaw. Bravepaw was orginally named Redkit when he was born, but in the very first moon of being an apprentice as Redpaw, he had outsmarted and fought a Shadowclan patrol all by himself. Tanglestar had called upon StarClan to name him Bravepaw.

"Oh my StarClan!" Bravepaw yowled, almost running into Ravenpaw. "You caught so much," he said admiringly, stroking his white tip down the black she-cat's shoulder. "I wish I were as good as hunting as you."

Dropping her prey, Ravenpaw tucked her face into her chest fur. "Oh, it's nothing," she mumbled as she spat out the other two peices of prey. Her heart raced as Bravepaw ducked down and picked up the squirell. He closed one bright blue eye, winking at her, and picked his way up to the thorn and bramble barrier leading into the camp.

Ravenpaw noticed Whitefoot smiling to himself as he watched Ravenpaw's embarrasment. She grit her teeth, forced herself not to be all giddy over the older apprentice, and followed him up. When she got into the camp from her slow plod up, Ravenpaw scurried over to Whitefoot, who was beckoning her over with his striped tail.

"And she caught a good five peices of prey!" Whitefoot was meowing excitedly, looking up at the tall Firethroat.

Ravenpaw felt her heart begin to race. Her mentor was telling Firethroat what a good job she had done!

Firethroat meowed, "Ah, well done, my kit. ThunderClan is lucky to have you." He got up and looked around, pricking his ears. "I wonder where Tanglestar wandered off to..."

Dejectedly, Ravenpaw lowered her head and let her tail lay limp. It was hopeless! If Firethroat would never notice her, Heronwing would be much harder.

Whitethroat coughed, "Uh - Firethroat? Excuse me...?" When Firethroat turned back around to face the tabby and white warrior, he continued, "Um, do you think Ravenpaw could look to become a warrior soon?"

Firethroat's amber eyes blazed suddenly, and Ravenpaw shrunk back. "WARRIOR?" he yowled, his usual snappy voice coming back. Lowering it, Firethroat snapped, "You cannot possibly be thinking of making Ravenpaw a warrior. We have five apprentices - all very good. Bravepaw and Cloudpaw are the oldest, and THEY are not even ready to become warriors! As for Palepaw, she has MANY moons to go...and Ravenpaw, we'll just have to see about her."

"Not to disrespect," Whitefoot meowed quietly, subdued. "But I wasn't talking about Palepaw. At least, I believe, Cloudpaw and Bravepaw should become warriors. They have been training for over a season."

Ravenpaw knew without really looking, that most of the Clan was looking over at her mentor and the deputy. Silently, she wished for somecat to come over and break this up. A silence settled over Whitefoot and Firethroat. Tanglestar stalked over to the quarreling cats. Ravenpaw wished she could just disappear into the rocks behind her.

Tanglestar said quietly, "what is going on here?" He had only become the leader last moon, and was very young. That showed in his voice, which flowed with only four seasons worth of usage. He sat down.

Quickly, Firethroat explained detail by detail about the argument the two had just had.

"Bravepaw and Cloudpaw will become warriors next moon, then. It's settled," Tanglestar said firmly. "I just want to make sure that Firethroat and Hazelfur are training the two to the best of their abilities."

Firethroat coughed, "We are! Don't you remember why Leapordstar named Bravepaw, _Brave_paw? He is going to be one of the best Warriors the lake has ever seen!" He added under his breath, "Thanks to me."

Tanglestar narrowed his eyes. "Send out the evening patrol," he murmered, getting up.

Ravenpaw let out a sigh of relief as the leader padded off, greeting his mate, Sageflower. She turned to Whitefoot and nodded at him as Firethroat called out for the evening patrol. "Thank you," she murmered.

_()()_

"You're right - these traveling herbs _do _tase better now," Poppynose was saying as she licked her muzzle. "I can't believe nocat ever thought of this!"

Ravenpaw watched sadly as Poppynose smiled at Ashpaw. She pulled her head back as Ashpaw pricked his ears and looked around the den. Since it was dark out, the den was even more poorly lit than usual. Ravenpaw listened quietly to the trickle of the pool of water in the den where cats could drink, and breathed in the scent of tangy and sweet herbs.

Poppynose continued, "I'll have to let your father know of your success." She began to pad around the den, cleaning up the mess the two had made. "And tomorrow, we need to go get some more comfrey."

Ashpaw nodded and picked up a few poppy seeds on the pad of his paw. "I'll do that first thing in the morning."

Ravenpaw backed out from behind the draping lichen and padded away, towards the apprentice den. Poppynose's last heard words echoed across the silent camp in Ravenpaw's ears. It made her wonder why her parents never said it to her, why they never even bothered to notice her.

"_I'm so proud of you."_


	3. Chapter 2 - Tigerleg

Tigerleg swiftly followed the patrol ahead of him, stretching his long legs into an even faster lope. Trees blurred by his vision as the rest of the patrol sped ahead as well. Although he had long legs, they didn't always work very well with the rest of Tigerleg's body. He nimbly jumped over a gnarled root sticking out of the forest floor. _Phew, didn't fall that time, _he thought to himself, recollecting the time he had tripped over that same root and went airborne.

"I smell WindClan!" Firethroat snarled, slididng to a stop. Tigerleg braced his legs and slid to a clumbsy stop as well. His muzzle rammed into Lightpaw's thin shoulders, and she turned around in suprise.

Tigerleg, his muzzle burning, muttered, "Sorry, Palepaw." He backed up and opened his jaws, letting the WindClan scent flood his senses. Yes, Firethroat was right. The patrol stood right at the border, but the scent seemed to be inside the border. A twig snapping alerted Tigerleg, and he pricked his ears. Had anyone else heard it?

No one else seemed to have heard it, for they inched closer to the border. Tigerleg watched as Lightpaw moved closer to her mentor, Stripetail, who flicked his tabby tail into the air.

"Uh, guys? Did you hear - " Tigerleg was cut off as a cat sprung from the bushes, barreling into him with as much force as a twoleg monster. He let out a yowl and squirmed to avoid her thorn-sharp claws. Tigerleg was aware of the prescense of even more WindClan cats as he battled with the she-cat he knew as Breezetail. He dodged a blow from her and ducked to nip her leg.

With a hop that came easily to her, Breezetail simply flew over Tigerleg, and crashed into Lightpaw, snarling. He watched in dismay as she pinned the young apprentice. With the blood pounding in his ears, Tigerleg moved foward to stop the WindClan she-cat, but a cat slipping by right in his view made him turn that way. Quickly, Tigerleg began to understand the plan. WindClan cats were battling the ThunderClan patrol to distract them while others took prey. He knew it for a fact, just as he knew there were trees above his head!

Yowling, he hurtled himself at large black tom, who'se name didn't quit come to him. Red haze flitted into his vision as the cat's large paw swung into the side of his head. Ducking the tom's next blow, Tigerleg heaved his shoulder under the enemy, only to collapse as more pressure was applied. He couldn't do it! All around him, the screeches of attacking cats knocked him back to his senses.

"Tigerleg! Get help!" For a brief second, he didn't know who was calling him. Then he saw Stripetail looking directly at him with panicked orange eyes. Without wondering why Lightpaw wouldn't be the one going to get help, Tigerleg squirmed away from the large tom and lengthened his already long stride to run in the direction of the camp.

_Run, run, jump, turn, run, get help. _Those were the only thought's racing through the tabby tom's head as he hurtled through the forest, trusting his legs to get him to the camp quickly.

"Get him!"

The call caused Tigerleg to turn his head and see who was yelling. In the bright, early morning light, he could see Hareclaw racing alongside him. The WindClan cat was faster! Once again, he wouldn't make it. Focusing his blurry gaze, Tigerleg turned his amber eyes straight ahead, away from the other cat, only to slam head first into a thick tree. Not even the sticky blood oozing into his nose woke him up.

()()

"I knew he'd wake up soon."

What? Where was Tigerleg. He struggled to lift his head, but it felt like it belonged to another cat. His foggy eyes told him he was in the ThunderClan medicine den. Ashpaw loomed over him, his blue eyes looking into his own. "How are you feeling?" the medicine cat apprentice asked.

"Uh - fine." Tigerleg scanned the medicine cat den. The only other cat laying near him was Lightpaw. "Um, what happened? I mean, I know that I ran into a tree, but..."

Poppynose trotted quietly over. "Ashpaw saw you and the other tom while he was picking comfrey."

Ashpaw said loudly, "I got my first battle scar!"

"And your only," Poppynose reminded him. "You're lucky Tanglestar heard you screech like a kit when that tom got his claws on you."

Tigerleg narrowed his eyes. It was a very bad thing to attack a medicine cat, even worse an apprentice. What had Hareclaw been thinking? He noticed the cobwebs on Ashpaw's shoulder, and how there was still red seeping through the iridescent patch. Why hadn't he been able to make it to ThunderClan?

Poppynose continued, "So then Tanglestar went into the battle to drive WindClan away. They'd been using some kind of prey-stealing tactic."

He didn't even bother to tell Poppynose he knew what they were doing. His head hurt too much. But he still had one last question. "How's Lightpaw?" he asked gently, looking over at the small apprentice.

Ashpaw said indifferently, "Lost a lot of blood. I don't think Stripetail was right to let her stay when they knew WindClan was there. That moss-brain."

His mentor flicked his shoulder with her spotted tail, giving him a look that said, _she's his apprentice, not yours. _Tigerleg admired the way the two cats got along. It was a special kind of mentor-apprentice bond, but not one that StarClan would shake their heads upon. Feeling kind of dizzy, Tigerleg lowered his head. He felt utterly ashamed and embarrased. He had been assigned to simply run back to the Clan, but instead had run into a tree, failing his Clan.

Disgusted with himself, Tigerleg sunk his claws into the mossy bed he lay on, watching as Poppynose and Ashpaw exited the den, telling him they were going to pick herbs. He watched angrily as they left, the lichen at the entrance of the den settling on their hindquarters, trailing after them, then gently wafting back in place. Without even noticing it, Tigerleg sunk his claws deep into his forleg, wincing at the pain as he forced his claws deeper into his leg, hearing flesh tear and watching as he shredded his own fur. Skin parted into a gaping hole. Blood began to gush out of the gap, crimson angry blood, and coat his tabby fur.

He hardly felt the pain. It didn't add up to the pain in his heart. Why couldn't he be strong, brave, and fast like his Clan-mates? Only apprentices tripped over roots, ran into trees, and stumbled over nothing but grass. Sometimes, he wondered why Leapordstar even made him a warrior. Sometimes, he wandered if Tanglestar would revoke his warrior status and make him an apprentice again. With amber eyes, he watched the blood drip off of his torn flesh and drop onto a stand of moss, turning it red. Flexing his claws on one paw, he made another even gash in his foreleg, gritting his teeth.

This time it hurt more. The skin seemed to tear itself apart, pouring out red pools of blood, coating his forlegs and making them sticky with his own blood. Tigerleg sheathed his claws and watched the cuts, feeling the throb against his skin. Why did pain feel so good right now? Ah, yes, he was punishing himself. For being a pathetic warrior, barely able to do anything for his Clan.

Tigerleg sensed another cat beginning to enter the medicine den. Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths. He heard Heronwing call out, "Ashpaw? I want to see your injury! Now!"

Willing himself to look like he was dreaming, like the injury had been nothing more than something he'd done in his sleep, Tigerleg took deep breaths. Heronwing's yowl of terror didn't even amount to how much he wanted to yowl.

()()

Staring at the cobwebs binding his injuries, Tigerleg sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Lightpaw pathetically got up and change which side she was dozing on. Lightpaw could move - but he couldn't. Not because of sheer exhaustion or pain, but he no longer had the meaning to. Why move? There would be no reason. He would still be stuck in the moss bed, angry at himself for being such a failure.

Ashpaw had said that Tigerleg must've had a pretty terrible dream to result in such an inury. Poppynose had shook her head in dismay. Tigerleg hadn't missed her hushed comment of, "The Dark Forest returning?"

No. The Dark Forest was gone. But something much worse had taken its place - Tigerleg's fear of himself.


	4. Chapter 3 - Mapleheart

**A/N: I'd love it if you'd review ;)**

With stupid brambles and burrs attatched to her paws, Mapleheart trudged along with the rest of the patrol. She probably looked horrific, with blood all over her pelt and an assorted array of pieces of leaves and burrs. Assessing the whole group, Mapleheart noted that no-cat was too badly injured. A few scrapes and bumps here, a cut there, that was it. And as for the apprentice...Mapleheart shuddered at the thought. Stripetail hadn't been too bright by not sending Lightpaw away right away. She had gouges and cuts all over, along with a badly nicked ear.

Mapleheart guessed the silly WindClan cats hadn't realized how young Lightpaw was. The fine, young, cream-colored apprentice had only been training for five moons. Quiet tired, Mapleheart started to lag behind. She ignored Firethroat's annoyed look, and concentrated on Tanglestar's hindquarters. The idiotic leader thought he was so great because WindClan had scattered once he came to the fray of fighting cats. Tanglestar was a scary-good fighter, but leader-wise, he wasn't all that much. The long haired tom lacked a good brain in his head.

Ashpaw flickered from cat to cat once they arrived in the camp. Mapleheart noticed, with alarm, that he had a rather large cobweb binding on his shoulder, and red was seeping through it. But the tough little tom was still tending to the injured just as well as Poppynose. It warmed Mapleheart's, well, heart.

"Are you badly injured?" Poppynose asked, her bright green eyes looking over Mapleheart's dirty coat.

Mapleheart shrugged, suddenly feeling self-concious of her cream colored coat, that was also tinted with darkers shades. "I think I'm fine," she meowed softly. "I'm just going to walk down to the lake to clean up."

Quickly, the she-cat exited the camp, ignoring Poppynose's protest. Lifting her large paws high, Mapleheart trotted quickly down to the lake, making it down there in no time. ThunderClan cats were supposed to hate water, but Mapleheart had always had a liking to it. The pebbles shifted uner her paws as she leaned over the smooth, clear water.

What she saw in the water disgusted her. A broad, light face was the first thing other cats saw, only because of the jagged scar right under her dull amber eye, trailing all the way to the tip of her flattened muzzle. Then they would notice her ubnormally broad shoulders and heavy-set body covered in ragged, cream fur always tinged with dirt and brambles. Her paws were large, and her tail was short. The only thing Mapleheart saw was uglieness. The worst kind. The kind of uglieness that cats would shrink away from, just like Jayfeather had from Rock in the stories.

It made her dig her black claws into the pebbles on the ground. Wrinkling her muzzle in pain, she sheathed her claws as the had twisted under the movement of the pebbles. Sighing, Mapleheart leaped into the cool water, and yanked her head back to rasp her tongue along her back, feeling grime come loose from her long fur.

"Mapleheart!" A voice called. "I see you need some help there."

In delight, Mapleheart called back, "Oh! It's you, Darkgaze. I guess I could use some help." Really, Mapleheart wanted to turn and run away. She was so ugly, and never really realized it. Why would Darkgaze want to be near her?

Darkgaze's unusual brown eyes trailed over her, and he placed only two paws in the water. "I don't like water like you," he huffed, then began to help her groom.

The two cats worked on Mapleheart's well needed groom in silence. The only thing heard was the gentle lapping of the water on the pebbly shore. Clouds moved over the sun, and it became shady.

"So..." Mapleheart meowed, mustering up her courage. "I was wondering if you'd like to come hunting with me sometime..." she trailed off.

Darkgaze stopped mid-lick. He shifted away from the she-cat and flicked his gray and white tail into the water. He coughed. "Uh, Mapleheart, you know I don't like you that way."

Heart pounding, Mapleheart straightened herself out to face the tom completely. "What? Why did you come down here? I, uh, though..." she rambled on and dragged her paw along the bottom of the lake. He didn't like her? Well, no suprise since she was so ugly, but lately, Mapleheart had been thinking that Darkgaze had moved on from his dead mate, Leafblaze. The two were the parents of Lightpaw, but it has been almost a season since she had died giving bith to Lightpaw.

"Well," Darkgaze muttered. "Poppynose sent me down here to see if you were okay." He shifted and took a few steps back, onto the dry ground.

Mapleheart's throat felt dry. "So you don't actually care about me?"

"As a clan-mate. Nothing more."

"What..?" Mapleheart's eyes widened as Darkgaze began to pick his way back up to the forest. "Can you tell me why!?"

Darkgaze turned. Looking down at her with a sad gaze, he muttered, "Leafgaze was a great cat...and I AM over her, but...you're just not what I'm looking for. You're a great fighter and stuff, but...you're not, uh, like Leafgaze." He bounded out of view.

Not like Leafgaze? He was talking about the beautiful, tortoishell she-cat with soft blue eyes and a voice like birds singing. He was talking about the slim she-cat who already seemed to have sparkling masses of blue stars swirling around her paws. Mapleheart could never beat that she-cat. Not in all of her life.

Stumbling out of the water, Mapleheart threw herself onto the ground, and raced up to the ridge that overlooked the lake. _I'm not beautiful._ Standing dangerously on the edge of the ridge, Mapleheart felt the wind tug at her fur. Not even letting out a yowl of any emotion, Mapleheart threw herself off the edge, and plummeted into the deep water.

()()

"So, it was a pretty bad dream," Tigerleg finished with a glare, pointing it in Poppynose's direction.

Mapleheart meowed, "Oh." Poppynose had just finished tending to Tigerleg's torn forleg. She watched as Poppynose busied herself among the medicine den. Mapleheart was told she'd been found washed up in WindClan's territory, and a patrol had dragged her back. And the she-cat told every-cat that she had simply fallen off the ledge.

Darkgaze's stare told her he knew differently. But nothing was said. It hurt her when he came into the medicine den, ignoring her. His dark form against the rock walls as he bent over his weak kit. She watched him, pretending to still be asleep, and Tigerleg watched her, pretending to watch Lightpaw. It worked out well for them.

The following morning, Ashpaw brought them all some food; a mouse for Lightpaw, and a vole for both Tigerleg and Mapleheart. As she stared at the vole, images flashed through Mapleheart's head. Outside, she knew the sun shone. And if Leafgaze were here, it would shine upon her slim shoulders and lithe back. If Mapleheart went outside, the sun would blatantly make her bedraggled fur shine like yellow dirt over her wide shoulders.

"Eat it!" Ashpaw snapped as he watched the warrior stare at the vole as if it were a badger. "Come on, do you have a belly ache too?"

Regretfully, Mapleheart swallowed the vole, feeling three pairs of eyes on her; Tigerleg's amber ones, Ashpaw's blue ones, and Lightpaw's yellow ones. The second Ashpaw left, Mapleheart scurried to her unsteady paws, and limped over to the little crevice where she knew herbs were kept.

"What are you doing?" Tigerleg rumbled, looking down at his leg.

"Um..." Mapleheart stuttered, searching for an excuse. "I didn't want to tell Ashpaw, but um...it's, uh, I'm in season and uh..."

Tigerleg said quickly, "Say no more." He lay his head on his paws and closed his eyes.

_Thank StarClan, _Mapleheart thought, and reached into the crevice. She removed her paw with yarrow stuck on her claws. Perfect! Mapleheart limped outside. There was only one cat outside; Sageflower, who was on gaurd. Without a word, holding her scarred head high, Mapleheart quickly went by Sageflower. She had to get out of here. The yarrow under her tongue burned and soured her mouth.

Turning a corner, the she-cat swallowed the green herb, and felt it slide down her throat. Second later, she retched her vole into the dirt. As her past few meals poured out of her, Mapleheart felt a touch of satisfaction. _That should help me be more like Leafgaze, _she thought. The she-cats mouth tasted like rotten mice, so she bent her head into a small puddle, wondering if there had been rain the night before. Lapping at the water, she kept her ears pricked for other cats. No one. Mapleheart kicked dirt over her thrown up meal, and limped back to camp.

As long as she were still alive, Mapleheart would now make sure her time would be dedicated to becoming beautiful and perfect.


End file.
